Not Playing with Lex and Dan

There’s nothing we can’t handle this week, as cocky military lawyer Lex Friedman and his assistant (with no responsibilities whatsoever) Dan Moren go to court with 1992’s A Few Good Men. Hot topics include Sorkinisms, the conflict over the military, verisimilitude, and a murderer’s row of talented actors. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before a...

Come fly the not so friendly skies with Lieutenant Dan “Gambit” Moren and his wingman Lieutenant Lex “Snuggie” Friedman as they watch 1986’s seminal fighter jet treatise, Top Gun. Hot topics include surprising comedy, solidly workmanlike craft, and whether or not Tom Cruise will ever sing on film again. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and...

We’re back for season seven, and a whole host of popular movies that one or both of us haven’t seen. To kick things off, innocent teens Lex Friedman and Dan Moren are left home alone, and naturally start a burgeoning-if-illicit enterprise while watching 1983’s Risky Business. Hot topics include Tom Cruise’s star power, the lack of any moral discussion, and a surprising amount of tact for an ’80s s...

We’ve reached the Super Bowl of Football Season, but can we win it all? Heavenly administrator Lex Friedman takes reincarnated quarterback Dan Moren under his wing (eh? ehh?) as they watch 1978’s Heaven Can Wait. Hot topics include Warren Beatty’s storied career, whether this is really a football movie, and some existential questions about the ending. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule...

In our penultimate Football Season movie, unconventional coach Lex Friedman partners up with devastated assistant coach Dan Moren to revitalize a college football program as they watch 2006’s We Are Marshall. Hot topics include the tricky balancing act of a movie about a tragedy and a movie about football, a hot take on Matthew McConaughey, and the sidelining of female characters. Programming Note...

As we continue our Football Season, forceful parent Lex Friedman embraces adopted son Dan Moren as they watch the 2009 film, The Blind Side. Hot topics include the shift in culture, truth being stranger than fiction, and whose viewpoint we’re really seeing the story from. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and after the film, members can wat...

Do we want your life? That’s what second-string high school quarterback Dan Moren is trying to figure out with the help of his buddy, offensive linebacker Lex Friedman in 1999’s Varsity Blues. Hot topics include muddled plot lines, more mustache-twirling than you can twirl a mustache at, and when a “comedy drama” ends up being neither. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which c...

It’s play by the rules, lose by the rules as straight arrow coach Lex Friedman tries to teach mid-thirties freshman quarterback Dan Moren while they watch 1991’s Necessary Roughness. Hot topics include a surprisingly respectful shower scene, comedy whiplash, and the inevitable tropes of sports movies. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and a...

They say anything can happen, and that’s what strident coach Lex Friedman tries to drill into brash young quarterback Dan Moren as they watch the 1999 film Any Given Sunday. Hot topics include making a capital ‘m’ Movie, how combining four scripts into one film doesn’t necessarily go well, and just generally why Oliver Stone is a lot. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which co...

They said he was too small to ever make it, but Dan Moren gets encouragement from kindly old janitor Lex Friedman as they sit down to watch 1993’s Rudy. Hot topics include why Rudy would make a good superhero, young appearances by two well-known actors, and a football movie that’s only sort of about football. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion befo...

Get your mojo on with tough but fair coach Lex Friedman as he encourages serious quarterback Dan Moren to watch the 2004 film Friday Night Lights, but not the following TV show of the same name. Hot topics include the heavy weight of Texas high school football, why winning isn’t everything, and why that one dad should not be forgiven. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which co...

It’s a brand new season of Not Playing: Football Season. Join veteran Lex Friedman as he clears the way for rookie Dan Moren while they watch 2006’s Invincible, which is merely coincidentally about Lex’s favorite football team, the Philadelphia Eagles. Hot topics include the uplifting nature of sports movies, what a 1976 football player gets paid, and the legend of Johnny Two-Hands. Programming No...

It all comes down to this. We return with a special bonus episode that sees the embodiment of all Jedi, Dan Moren, and the collection of all Sith, Lex Friedman, cover 2019’s Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, thus wrapping up their coverage of the storied franchise. Hot topics include the surprisingly brilliant deployment of Threepio humor, the camaraderie of our main characters, a Kyl...

Two tough guys who don’t always see eye-to-eye team up this week, which also happens to be the plot of the final (to date) installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise, 2019’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. Hot topics include the evolution of the franchise’s female characters (and often lack thereof), wasted villains, charisma up to your eyeballs, and how the heck the Rock fits in a t...

Family never gives up on you, and neither do Lex and Dan as they embark upon the final main sequence film of The Fast and the Furious franchise, 2017’s The Fate of the Furious. Hot topics include exactly how you program your military base’s gates to act in case of an emergency, bringing up baby, and why you should always avoid swarms of hacked cars on your commute. Programming Note: In addition to...

We’re back, tracking down a techie McGuffin in the seventh installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise, the concisely named Furious 7. Hot topics include the rat-a-tat nature of stunt sequences, whether this series would be better with supernatural elements, how far we can push miraculous healing, and the continued lack of development of female characters. Programming Note: In addition to th...

To London we go in this, the sixth installment of The Fast and the Furious series, 2013’s Fast & Furious 6. Hot topics include when a twist is not a twist, the increasingly comic book superhero nature of these films, too long runways, and why some characters just have to die. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and after the film, members can...

We’re back, and it’s off to Brazil we go as we go from car racing to out-and-out robbery in the fifth installment of The Fast and Furious franchise, 2011’s Fast Five. Hot topics include whether The Rock can redeem this franchise, the trouble with rooting for bad guys, giving as good as you get in a fight, and, of course, massive amounts of collateral damage. Programming Note: In addition to this c...

We may not be fast, but we’re definitely a little angry as we slog through the desert on the way to the fourth installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise, Fast & Furious. Hot topics include twists that nobody cared about, an ever-so-marginally better treatment of women, bizarre chronology rearrangement, and why they keep making the same movie. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule e...

Hop the plane to Japan, because we’re drifting right into the third installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Hot topics include the inexcusable objectification of women right off the bat, unfortunate accents, why everybody inexplicably wants to give the main character things, and, of course…the drift. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule ep...

Hit the NOS and jump that bridge! We’re back with the second installment of our trip through The Fast and the Furious franchise, 2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious. Hot topics include going all-in on sequel names right away, cookie-cutter villains, literally removing the voice of female characters, and are we having fun yet? Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion...

We’re kicking off Season 5 of Not Playing by getting all speed and irascible with the first installment of the the storied automotive action franchise, 2001’s The Fast and the Furious. Hot topics include how bad a cop Brian O’Conner is, the disappointing treatment of female characters circa 2001, and why exactly this movie spawned an action franchise. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule...

We’ve got a good feeling about this. It’s member season around these parts, and Lex and Dan are back to their old Star Wars tricks, especially for you. Join daredevil pilot Dan Moren and charming gambler Lex Friedman as they steal away with 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. Hot topics include whoever the hell Laredo is, speaking the Wookiee language, the somewhat mystifying fate of Qi’ra, and why Wo...

Season 4 of Not Playing draws to a close with a dealer’s choice: 2012’s Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig, and released on the 50th anniversary of the franchise. A fitting end. Hot topics include salt and pepper beards, Bond age, throwbacks to the beginning of the franchise, and what might be in store for season 5. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion b...

James Bond is a hard man to catch up to, but Dan and Lex have done just that as they sit down to watch the role’s current (as of this recording) portrayer, Daniel Craig, in his debut outing: 2006’s Casino Royale. Hot topics include why blondes have more fun, Lex’s infuriation about onscreen poker protocol, and the secret origins of 007. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which...